December Garden Hints

Prune your hollies, pines, spruces, magnolias, and other evergreens now to enjoy the cuttings for holiday decorations.

Keep leaves from accumulating on your lawn. Even the ones that blow in from the woods or the neighbor's yard can cause damage to your lawn if left for the winter. Snow and rain through the winter will cause the leaves to mat down and smother the grass.

You can continue to plant pansies for winter and early Spring color. The plants may look a little wilted on cold days, but as soon as the sun warms them up, they perk right up!

Now is a great time to use dormant or sun oil to treat scale on your trees and shrubs. As long as the weather isn't extremely cold, spray now to smother the scale on the leaves and stems. This is perhaps the most effective way to control scale in the landscape.

Decorate an evergreen tree or large shrub with strings of cranberries, fruit bits, and popcorn for a nice holiday accent in the landscape and a treat for the birds, as well.

Spread pine cones with chunky peanut butter and roll them in bird seed for more edible decorations for the birds, particularly woodpeckers.

Now is a great time to plant! Just because the weather has cooled down, doesn't mean you have to stop landscaping. The roots will grow through the winter, giving the plant a head start on spring.

Keep cut Christmas trees fresh by keeping it away from heat sources. Give the tree a fresh cut to open up the trunk for water. Make sure the stand has enough room to hold plenty of water and keep it full through the holidays. Check out our Cut Christmas Tree Care Guide for more information!

Live evergreens make great choices for Christmas trees. White pine, Norway spruce and Colorado blue spruce make excellent live trees. If the tree is in the house less than ten days, your chances of survival are excellent. Keep the root ball moist, but not wet while the tree is in the house. Keep the tree cool, and plant it as soon after the holidays as possible.

Look for the great Christmas ideas and decorations Snow's will have throughout this holiday season.

This is the month for your final lawn fertilization of the season. Apply a balanced fall fertilizer this month and your lawn will green up faster and better next spring.

Keep the waterfall running in your water garden right through the winter. This will help keep the entire surface from freezing. A solid coat of ice over the pond can trap harmful gases under the surface, hurting the fish. If the pond does freeze over, place a pot of boiling water with a rope tied to the handle on the ice. When the pot melts through the ice, pull it back out.